Friday, 16 November 2007

Deep Cuts For The Weekend

I watched the '95 Road Movie (ssshhh! Don't Tell TenClub) for the first time in years last night, and it re-affirmed my love for that tour, so much so that I was overwhelmed by the urge to share some cool highlights with y'all!

First up is a cover of Pete Townsend's Let My Love Open The Door, performed only 4 times in total, an amazing closer to a 10C only show in Seattle's Moore Theater. This is a song which, for some reason, has always put a big smile on my face everytime I hear it, which only leads me to wonder why this song was dropped from setlists thereafter...

Next, we move onto the Australian leg of the tour, to the show closer from the second of 3 nights in Melbourne. At this point, I should interject that every PJ fan should own a bootleg of this show*, it is possibly the greatest show they played in their earlier years, certainly in the top 10. Anyway, this was PJ's first ever Australian tour and the fans were going absolutely nuts for every song (imagine, you have been starved of PJ for the 3 years since the whole Grunge thing blew up), and after a loud singalong to Indifference, everyone is winding down, ready to head for the gates...

But then, the crowd are whipped back into a wild frenzy with the simple utterance of 5 words... "Mr. Dave Grohl on Drums" and with guest star in check, the band tear through a primal version of Uncle Neil's Rockin' In The Free World. This was a momentous occasion, given the reported ill feelings between Nirvana and PJ before Kurt Cobain's demise the previous year, and was a perfect way for the band to say thanks to the fans for their patience.

Finally, I offer you the penultimate song from a sublime San Jose show at the tail end of the 1995 tour, one of the re-scheduled shows from the summer tour. After the band were forced to cancel 5 shows in April and May due to problems with Ticketmaster, media pressure and Ed getting sick at the now infamous San Fran show, it looked like PJ were on the verge of implosion. But the band returned to play these shows in the Fall a much happier and relaxed looking band, and nothing encapsulates that moreso than this next tune, a cover of The Byrd's So You Wanna Be A Rock N' Roll Star, helped out by a then unknown Ben Harper, and Kim Warnock from The Fastbacks.

Its an enjoyable listen, very clearly just a bunch of friends hanging out, having fun, reminding us all of what being in a band should be about.

3 comments:

The 1995 Tour Movie was an 'Immagine In Cornice' style mix of live footage and behind the scenes stuff from the 1995 Tour of the Far East, Aus and NZ. It was decided by the band that it would not be released, but it leaked online a few years ago.